12/01/2020
Gr 9 Up—Albert presents Althea Prosperine's Tales from the Hinterland—the notorious collection of dark and twisted short stories that form the backbone of the world-building in The Hazel Wood and its sequel The Night Country. For the first time, the stories that protagonists Alice and Ellery encounter in Albert's previous novels are presented in their entirety. Readers familiar with the series will recognize many of the tales and characters here, notably Alice, Ilsa, and Hansa. Albert aptly channels classic fairy tale sensibilities into eerie and brutal tales that would have the Brothers Grimm reaching for an extra candle at night. Centering female characters in each story, Albert explores the facets of girl- and womanhood in a world dominated and usually shaped by men. Standouts in the collection include "The House Under the Stairwell," where sisterhood wins the day as Isobel seeks help from the Wicked Wife before she is trapped in a deadly betrothal; "The Clockwork Bride," a richly told story where a girl hungry for enchantment carelessly promises her first daughter to a sinister toymaker who, when he tries to claim his prize, instead finds a girl who wishes only to belong to herself; and "Death and the Woodwife," where a princess uses her wits and her mother's unusual gifts to outwit Death and his heir. Characters have various skin tones. VERDICT Stories fueled by feminist rage, the frustration of being underestimated, and the insatiable longing to experience more mark this collection as timely and universal.—Emma Carbone, Brooklyn P.L.
2020-10-27
Twelve pitch-black original fairy tales form the backbone to an acclaimed fantasy series.
Fans of the Hazel Wood series know of Althea Proserpine’s cult anthology, the original stories whose characters escaped into our world. Featuring, among others, Hansa the Traveler, Twice-Killed Katherine, and, of course, Alice-Three-Times (whose tale’s much-speculated-about ending falls oddly flat), the stories feel both familiar—the first was already included in its entirety in the series opener and several others, in abbreviated and altered form—and revelatory, unfolding in all their rich, lush, macabre, and grisly glory. Despite their vaguely preindustrial Western European setting, these are anything but traditional folktales. While every protagonist is female, the themes are not explicitly feminist; rather, the overwhelming tone is savage, angry, bitter, and cruel. Most of the leads do achieve a vicious and vengeful sort of triumph, but only one even approaches a conventional happy ending. Relationships (exclusively heterosexual) are only an excuse for male lust, domination, and manipulation. Parents (especially mothers) are mostly neglectful, smothering, abusive…or dead. Death, often horrific death, is a constant presence, even as a literal character in several stories. Although this collection could well be read on its own, the unrelenting grimness can be wearying; it may be best appreciated for the context and commentary it offers for the preceding volumes. Tierney’s bold illustrations, many featuring stark, contrasting tones of red, black, and white, accentuate the mood. There is some diversity in skin tone.
Dark, demanding, and delicious. (Fairy tales. 16-18)
The writing is as spare and precise as poetry, connected to the darker, edgier elements of fairy-tale conventions. Albert’s rich and tightly focused collection forms the core of the mythology created in her novels, and her fans will be thrilled at this further glimpse into that world.” —Booklist, starred review
“Rich with bloodshed, metamorphosis and inevitable comeuppance, written with the absolute assurance of a master storyteller summoning an audience to the fireside on a winter’s night, Albert’s book is uniquely transporting and discomfiting, a length of shining fabric flecked with glass that sparkles as it cuts.” —The Times Literary Supplement (UK)
“Lush and deliciously sinister fairytales to be consumed as greedily as Turkish delight or any fairy fruit. I loved these.” —Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble
“This inventive, enchanting collection reads like the fairy tales of old, hushed stories passed woman to woman, before the Grimms came and wiped away all the blood.” —Laura Ruby, author of Thirteen Dorways, Wolves Behind Them All
“We first heard about the book of fairy tales written by Althea Proserpine in The Hazel Wood, and witnessed the fallout from them in The Night Country. Now Melissa Albert gifts us with the stories themselves, of Hansa the Traveler, of Twice-Killed Katherine, and of Alice-Three-Times, whose story will perhaps mean the most to readers. Don’t come into this collection expecting Disney princesses. Melissa Albert and Althea Proserpine’s stories are bloody and brutal and make the Brothers Grimm feel sugary sweet.” —Tor.com
“Enthralling, fantastic, and darkly haunting...highly recommended for fans of powerful short stories, fairy tales, and enchantment.” —YA Books Central
“Tales from the Hinterland is filled with strange, creepy stories featuring characters readers of Albert’s previous works will recognize, along with horrifying new tales filled with blood and revenge, and women who want more than what they’re offered by both life and fate. Many of them meet tragic or terrifying ends, but all of their stories are compelling ones and will satisfy any reader hungry for some magic in this cold, dark winter.” —Culturess.com
“Dark, demanding, and delicious.” —Kirkus Reviews
Praise for THE HAZEL WOOD
New York Times bestseller
Eight starred reviews
#1 Indie Next Pick
ALA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults List
Publishers Weekly Flying Start
“The Hazel Wood starts out strange and gets stranger, in the best way possible. Albert seamlessly combines contemporary realism with fantasy, blurring the edges in a way that highlights that place where stories and real life convene, where magic contains truth, and the world as it appears is false, where just about anything can happen, particularly in the pages of a good book. A captivating debut.” —The New York Times Book Review, 2018 Notable Children’s Book
“An original and imaginative fairy tale: thrilling, fascinating, and poignant in equal measure.” —Entertainment Weekly, Best YA Book of the Year
“Insidiously beautiful, this is the opposite of escapist fantasy; it is a story about the imagination’s power to loose atrocity into the (mostly) law-abiding confines of the real.” —The Guardian, Best Children’s Book of the Year
“A darkly brilliant story of literary obsession, fairy-tale malignancy, and the measures a mother will take to spare her child.” —The Wall Street Journal, Best Children’s Book of the Year
“A contemporary fantasy that dwells in an atmospheric, intertwining world of terrifying circumstances; a breathtaking dive into the magic and importance of story in one’s identity." —Shelf Awareness, starred review
“Alice’s sharp-edged narration and Althea’s terrifying fairy tales, interspersed throughout, build a tantalizing tale of secret histories and magic that carries costs and consequences. There is no happily-ever-after resolution except this: Alice’s hard-won right to be in charge of her own story.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review
”Highly literary, occasionally surreal, and grounded by Alice’s clipped, matter-of-fact voice, The Hazel Wood is a dark story that readers will have trouble leaving behind.” —Booklist, starred review
“Simultaneously wondrous and horrific, dreamlike and bloody, lyrical and creepy, exquisitely haunting and casually, brutally cruel. Not everybody lives, and certainly not ‘happily ever after’—but within all the grisly darkness, Alice's fierce integrity and hard-won self-knowledge shine unquenched.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Praise for THE NIGHT COUNTRY
New York Times bestseller
“This fairy tale noir adventure blends romance and mystery with plenty of action. A must-read for fans of portal fantasies, mysteries, and readers who prefer their magic with bloody-sharp edges.” —School Library Journal, starred review
“What Albert renders on the page is audacious: with resounding success, she keeps a firm grip on her characters and their stories, and her prose weaves a magic of its own, animating the ever-expanding fantastical premise through lyrical language, striking metaphor, and a mastery of tone that forces readers to feel the magic along with the underlying emotional stakes.” —Booklist, starred review
“Albert’s legion of fans will relish her return to the bloody, terrifying, seductive world of her debut and the inventive brilliance of her storytelling.” —The Guardian
